Thursday, 27 May 2010

A transsexual Malaysian who is married to a Derby man has applied for asylum in a final bid to stay in this country.

Fatine and Ian Young wed in a civil ceremony at Derby Register Office last year and live together in Pear Tree but have failed in three separate applications for permanent visas.

The couple fear that Fatine, who was born Mohammed Fazdil Min Bahari, will be arrested and thrown in jail if she is forced to return to her home country, where same-sex marriages are illegal.

And they believe that, after death threats from Malaysia were put on an internet site set up to support Fatine, she could be in danger if she is forced to go back.

They are now waiting, again, to hear whether or not her attempts to stay will be successful but have been told it could take between two weeks and two years for a response.

Ian, 31, said: "If she goes back, her life will be in danger. That's what it's come down to. My brain has gone completely numb. There's been so much going on – it's now a waiting game and our family and friends are on edge as much as we are.

"This is our final hope."

Fatine, 36, initially entered the country on a six-month tourist visa. Her most recent appeal for a permanent visa, which was rejected by the Home Office in January, was made under a section of the Human Rights Act covering the right to a family life.

The application for asylum was lodged in April and Fatine had to go for a screening interview in Solihull. With a decision pending, she must sign on at a police station every week in Loughborough while the pair wait for the British High Commission in Malaysia to file a report about what risks she could face if she returned.

Ian, a caretaker for Derby City Council, said the couple were still receiving hundreds of e-mails backing them. He added: "We'd like to thank everyone for their support."

The couple first met in a coffee shop in Malaysia and Ian did not realise she was a transsexual. But despite Fatine's revelation and her refusal to have sex-change surgery, Ian said he was still in love and "could not contemplate his life without her".

It comes days after the new coalition Government promised action on the deportation of gay asylum seekers.

A document released by the coalition last week said: "We will stop the deportation of asylum seekers who have had to leave particular countries because their sexual orientation, or gender identification, puts them at proven risk of imprisonment, torture or execution."